Brian Wayne

"Simply put, there is too much capital seeking too few opportunities, particularly at the seed stage. Multi-stage firms have eliminated pricing discipline at seed stage and the proliferation of seed firms has made the task of investing at this stage as competitive as it’s ever been, leading me to believe that indexed seed investing in today’s environment will produce poor returns. What does this mean for today’s environment? It’s never been more important to break away from median performance. While there is risk in breaking away from the pack, the risk (at least performance wise) of staying part of the herd is simply far worse. Median returns for the recent vintages are simply terrible. One could argue that funds are still in their j-curve phases, but I suspect this doesn’t explain the divergence we’re seeing between GOOD performers and GREAT performers. More than ever before, it’s clear to me that playing the same game as everyone else will not work, so fund managers should question whether they are really capable of being in the top 5% of whatever strategy they are employing. From a LP perspective, allocators should likely ask the same of their managers and consider whether allocating to indexed mega funds or indexing across too broad of a portfolio of managers is tenable in achieving their return targets." https://lnkd.in/g8GqHY-P

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Listened to Bloomberg’s Zero: The Climate Race recently—worth a listen for anyone in the climate tech space. Akshat Rathi interviews Eric Toone from Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Key topics: ⚡️ Carbon removal ⚡️ Grid modernization ⚡️ Nuclear fusion and fission ⚡️ Green hydrogen—the hype, promise vs reality Good insights on where innovation is heading in sustainability and energy. #ClimateTech #Sustainability #Energy #Innovation

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"…if you look over a 10-year horizon, there's no question a shift toward renewables is happening; largely because it makes economic sense, not purely policy reasons." - Matthew Idema, Aurora Solar Despite market and political uncertainty, the Energize Capital NEXT #Climate #Software Summit made one thing clear: the #energytransition is not slowing down, and we have better tools than ever to make it happen. ✍️ Read our latest blog, Today in Climate: Insights from the Energize NEXT Climate Software Summit, here: https://lnkd.in/d_wMwsxw

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Divestment requirements have a very real cost. This reduces the ability of endowments and foundations to support their mission driven enterprises. As the list of divestment demands grow, at what point do the consequences outweigh the perceived benefits? Hiding at the end of this article is the below quote: Golden admitted the divestment had undermined Princo’s returns, saying the endowment “would have been better off” otherwise. But he pointed to a bigger concern: the pressure to “keep adding things to divest from”. “Fossil fuels are necessarily part of getting to where the overall economy needs to be [and] it would be impossible for the world to not use fossil fuels tomorrow,” he said. “Divestment is a pretty weak tool to change the economy.” https://lnkd.in/g3SeC8rg #energy #investing #vc

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Goldman Sachs recently published a report on falling Lithium Ion battery prices. They estimate the "EV market could achieve cost parity, without subsidies, with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles around the middle of this decade on a total-cost-of-ownership basis." Despite the buzz around emerging technologies like solid-state and sodium-ion batteries, lithium-ion continues to dominate the energy storage landscape. According to GS' research here's why: 1. Established Supply Chain: Lithium-ion benefits from a mature, efficient supply chain built over decades. 2. Market Concentration: Just five companies control nearly 80% of the market share, each with 20+ years of industry experience. 3. R&D Advantage: These leaders have intensified their R&D spending in recent years, widening the gap with newcomers. 4. Manufacturing Efficiency: New entrants struggle to achieve the yield and cost structure of established players. 5. Skilled Labor Shortage: The industry faces challenges in finding experienced workers, favoring established companies. 6. Economic Pressures: A cyclical downturn is making it difficult for new technologies to gain a foothold. 7. Rapidly Falling Prices: The cost of lithium-ion batteries continues to decrease, further solidifying their market position. This price reduction is expected to accelerate EV adoption in the coming years. While innovations like solid-state batteries show promise, they face an uphill battle against the lithium-ion juggernaut. The entrenched players' decades of experience, economies of scale, and continued innovation create a formidable barrier to entry. Looking ahead, GS expects a strong resurgence in EV demand around 2026 as battery prices continue to fall, potentially reaching total cost of ownership parity with ICE vehicles in markets like the US. This trend is likely to further cement lithium-ion's position in the market. You can read the whole article here: https://lnkd.in/gtQnHsr5 #Lithium #BatteryTech #EVs #EnergyStorage #MarketTrends

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Check out my recent post on why President Trump is the forcing function for us to solve the “Missing Middle” and catch the industrial Tsunami of onshoring coming to the US!

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It's Earth Month 🌎 and Clear Current Capital's portfolio company, Nosh.bio stands out for truly embodying the ethos of "Think Different." Founders Tim Fronzek and Felipe Lino prioritize core values such as trust, respect, pro-activity, customer-centricity, and positive thinking in shaping their company culture 💫. With a diverse team spanning nine nationalities and four continents, they understand the unifying power of food 🌱. Through scalable and sustainable technology, Nosh aims to provide clean, healthy, and affordable food. They are not only thinking but building, nourishing, and solving problems differently, particularly concerning the longevity and strength of our food system. Be inspired to Think Different. 🍎 Challenge: Many food products are not tasty, affordable, or sustainable. CLEAR + BOLD SOLUTION: Nosh.bio creates ingredients from fungi for cleaner labels, improved taste, and texture in meat and fish analogues, as well as convenience foods, dairy, confectionery, and bakery items while adding nutritional value. Their nutritional and highly functional proteins are naturally produced, low processed, allergen-free, non-GMO, not novel foods, and at cost parity. Nosh's proprietary fermentation process is scalable and sustainable. #innovation #food #foodtech #sustainability #climatesolutions #EarthMonth

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Is SF Climate Week banter a good barometer of the macro climate tech investment mood? Key nuggets to ponder: 💰💰💰 Climate solutions (like most science/engineering and hardware based deep tech) are capital intensive. They require an "all of the above", creative financing approach to obtain the capital needed to scale (from CVCs, government, public-private partnerships, green banks, debt financing...). 🤖 AI - Everything, Everywhere (all at once). As in most sectors, AI is white hot. It can be a key component of climate solutions, but also a demand accelerant ⏩ More AI = ↗ compute and power demand ⚡= ↗ need for energy storage and grid enhancing solutions 🔋. 🏛 🤵 Political Angst. Real worry that a new administration will cut or impede climate tech catalyzing funding (e.g., DOE funding from IRA). #climatetech #climateweek

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Excellent blog post on the realities of Climate & VC. While these are "tough times for the transition," there are also many opportunities. Significant capital will continue to flow, with Corporate VCs playing a larger role in financing this transition. Through this process, they will strengthen their LP positions in funds tackling climate challenges. I receive weekly calls from large Holding & Corporate VCs seeking introductions to Climate / Energy / Infra VC Funds. When I ask about their target sub-verticals within Climate / Energy, they often mention that they default to focusing on specific regions due to limited resources and coverage. In other words, rather than evaluating whether a DACH VC is better positioned for solar or grid-tech compared to a Nordic or US VC, they simply pursue whichever regions they can access—a haphazard approach at best. I always advise LPs to evaluate VCs within their operating market context. Since sourcing is crucial in venture capital, Holding Cos. and Family Offices should carefully assess a VC's location, regulatory context, and market environment before investing and building a portfolio of Funds. I've heard "I wish I had discovered this VC / region sooner" far too many times... * At ComposeVC's Built World Fund, we do not invest in Climatetech or Energytech directly, only as it relates to our Built World thesis.

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This is a good and important read on #FOAK projects and the ClimateTech Valley of Death, with good insight from some very sharp investors. One often overlooks aspect of this challenge is WHO will build these early commercial projects that are smaller and don't often appeal to top tier EPCs. Developing and building these projects will be a critical, often binary factor in the outcomes. https://lnkd.in/gbedmkmt

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🚀 Calling all adopters of #proptech and #construction tech: real estate developers, builders, and owner-operators, and more! 🌟 Big News! I’m thrilled to announce our partnership with Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), co-administered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, to accelerate cleantech adoption. This is a first-of-its-kind initiative bringing public and private industry together to drive the digitization and decarbonization of the built environment with a focus on the adoption of startup technologies by end customers. I couldn’t be more excited to collaborate closely with IN² and NREL’s incredible teams to build the industry’s first Adoption Playbook, and the impact this program will have to catalyze more sustainable innovation implementation to our built world. Led by Program Manager Sarah Derdowski, NREL's team is backed by world-class research and a history of running successful incubators. 💡 If you're a forward-thinking organization that is seeking to innovate your real estate footprint, apply today. Adopters can receive up to $250,000 in grant funding to pilot cutting-edge technologies, while startups have the chance to scale and engage with major corporations. This groundbreaking program offers incredible opportunities for both adopters and startups to drive sustainability and innovation—and we're kicking it off this month! 🌍 With our team at Overlay Build, we will design the curriculum in partnership with IN² for corporate adopters through their Adoption Playbook. The playbook will prioritize pain points, identify innovation areas, and form peer groups for implementation strategies. Overlay will also develop due diligence criteria, help to determine the top startups for potential pilots, and form internal innovation working committees that will drive change. Additionally, Overlay will build a change management strategy to ensure practical evaluation and implementation of pilot projects, helping companies with significant real estate ownership reduce construction inefficiencies, costs, and carbon footprints. 🔍This initiative addresses the "missing middle" in technology adoption of built environment solutions—let's bridge that gap together. For more information or to discuss how you can get involved, feel free to reach out to me directly. 👉 Join us in shaping the future of the built environment! Adopters, apply here today: https://lnkd.in/eCRHCXfm #Sustainability #Cleantech #Innovation #BuiltEnvironment #IN2 #OverlayCapital #DigitalTransformation #Decarbonization #ESG #NetZero

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Explore our latest blog post, "The Holistic Truth About Improving IAQ", where we delve into comprehensive strategies for enhancing indoor air quality. 🌿 In this insightful read, ThinkLite Air's founder, Dinesh Wadhwani, together with IAQ specialist, John Bergman from SPMC, share expert knowledge on effective air purification methods, microbial control, and practices aimed at creating healthier indoor environments. 🏡 Learn about the importance of IAQ and discover practical steps you can take to ensure cleaner, healthier air for yourself and those around you. Dive into the conversation and become more informed about the air we breathe indoors 👉 https://lnkd.in/ehYX9duf #AirQuality #Smartbuildings #Proptech #Innovation #Technology #Future #Futurism #Analytics #Data #Sales #Sustainability #Pharmaceutical #Health #Healthcare #Gym #Biotechnology #Medicaldevice #Medtech #Medical #Hospital #Datacenter #Longtermcare #Cleaning #School #Education #Office #Banks #Hospitality #Cruise #Dentistry #Government #Firefighter #HVAC #FacilitiesManagement

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Data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) illustrates the current "readiness" of #ClimateTechs + their potential impact on carbon reduction. As shown, many techs are at an early stage of being able to have a material impact. Concerningly, some tech funds recently returned capital back to investors recently + closed their funds - citing inability to fund capital intensive techs, found in areas like ClimateTech. This in part may be contributing to the $2 trillion shortfall in ClimateTech, that Deloitte estimates. What this may mean for the future? - The migration of LPs to global, super VC funds within ClimateTech, given the large capital pools needed to fund tech development - Greater specialization from smaller funds, energizing more niche elements of the ClimateTech market - but also altering their / LP's risk profile - A greater role to be played by debt financing in funding growth entities at an earlier stage - impacting cashflow dynamics Will be an interesting space to watch moving forward. We at The Proptech Connection are constantly working with all parts of the Proptech ecosystem. From the leading LPs, funds, techs and adopters in market, providing an independent view. Reach out to us today to find out how we can help. #InvestorTrends #Strategy #Global Ivo van Breukelen Stuart Daun Kiki C. Ethan Ward

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 Showcasing the sustainability and economic efficiency of #renewableenergy projects can persuade #investors of their viability and potential for #highreturns.

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Clean Energy Ventures is thrilled to have Decarbonization Partners (a BlackRock - Temasek partnership) as the lead investor in ConnectDER's $35M capital raise with new investor MassMutual Ventures participating alongside existing investment from CEV and Energy Innovation Capital, LG Technology Ventures, ZOMA Capital, Avista, and Evergy Ventures. We see a massive opportunity for the company to enable a wide range of DER (PV, EV, storage, heat pumps) adoption across more than 60 million households in the US, especially those older households with the need to upgrade 100 amp circuits. ConnectDER's next product, IslandDER, will enable homeowners to disconnect from the grid giving them full control over their DERs during a power outage. Many thanks to David Hayes for championing this investment from the Decarb Partners side and Timothy Krysiek from MassMutual, as well as the extraordinary leadership team at ConnectDER - Ivo Steklac, Whitman Fulton, Marty Cissell and Jonathan Knauer, and to Yi Jean Chow from the Clean Energy Ventures team for supporting the company. https://lnkd.in/eweB5iss

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Practice your #voting skills and help us highlight #regenerativefinance at SXSW!

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In case you missed the Xmas present from Vikram Raju, CFA of Morgan Stanley, a spot-on analysis of Climate solutions as we headed into 2025. TL;DR: Some solutions need infra-like capital, not venture. Subsidies do not a long-term business make. Ditto for Carbon-credit revenue only. Consumers can be fickle. Very much aligned with the 2150 house view of leveraging incentives if available, but building a long-term stand alone business, underwriting the path to infra-bankability with venture and limited trust in business models that only rely on CO2 credits. #Climatetech #CleantechWinter #CarbonCredits #VentureCapital https://lnkd.in/eZnwCNUk (And h/t to my partner Christian Jølck for sharing this gem)

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